Winter Specialties - Ottawa West with Tony Beck

Tuesday Jan 19, 8:00am

We met at the Coliseum – Al, Heather, Rick, me and Tony. Today, we were always on the lookout for the Gyrfalcon. We went directly to Britannia Conservation Area, and after scanning the ice on Mud Lake, we headed up onto the ridge. We saw several Mallards in the swift water and a MallardxBlack hybrid. Also we saw a male Common Goldeneye.

As we walked west to the end of the ridge, we came upon a flock of a dozen or more American Robins. A male Northern Cardinal was also lurking in the bushes. Tony and Rick heard Cedar Waxwings and we struggled to see a couple in the dense shrubbery.

We left and went to the Deschenes Rapids lookout on the Ottawa River Parkway – nothing there. So we headed to Tunney’s Pasture to check the Coats Building – nothing on the north or west sides; so we went around to the Beer Store on Scott St. and spotted two Peregrine Falcons on the east side perched by the lights. One was facing away, but the other gave us a chance to digiscope. Heather spotted a House Sparrow, a Hairy Woodpecker, a Blue Jay and a European Starling on the building adjoining the Beer Store parking lot.

Despite seeing two falcons, the Gyrfalcon eluded us. We went to Bate Island to look for the Barrows Goldeneye, but had to settle for dozens of Common.Goldeneye and a nice male Common Merganser.

Still trying for the Gyr, we went to the Experimental Farm, where we found a tree loaded with House Finches. Crossing the road towards Hartwell’s Locks, we saw a female Pileated Woodpecker and also a Downy. We drove to the Clyde Avenue snow dump to check the quarry for you know what. But all we got was a Common Raven. We drove all the way out to Hilda Road where there was nothing but Black-capped Chickadees, a Blue Jay and several American Tree Sparrows.

On the way back, Tony spotted a flock of about 50 Bohemian Waxwings at the Corner of James Cummings and Carling Avenues, opposite Moodie Dr.

Dewberry Trail, Mer Bleue & Wall Road - Ottawa East with Tony Beck

Thursday Jan 14, 8:00am

Heather, Tony & I met at Trim Road, and drove over to Mer Bleue, where we met Rick. We birded there for an hour, and then drove to Navan for coffee and soup.
The rest of the morning, we drove the backroads south of Navan. Today we had 15 species – Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, American Crow, Mourning Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Shrike, European Starling, House Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Snow Bunting, American Tree Sparrow, Wild Turkey, and Northern Cardinal (when I got home). Rick also heard a White-breasted Nuthatch and a Brown Creeper before we arrived at Dewberry Trail.

The Gatineau Escarpment & the Steele Line with Tony Beck

Tuesday Jan 12, 8:00am

We met at the Gamelin Blvd Visitor Centre – Rick, Heather, Tony & me. We decided to all go in Heather’s more comfortable car.

We drove to St. Raymond, then Pink Rd all the way to the end. On Pink, we saw a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings.

We took Terry Fox down to Hwy 148, then on to Terrien Rd. and drove to a lookout over the escarpment. Guess what Heather spotted - a Golden Eagle! Heather was on a roll. On the Eardley-Masham Road, she spotted an adult Northern Shrike. On Bradley Rd., we saw the flock of Evening Grosbeaks that we had seen on Sunday.

We headed on to Steele Line and Tony spotted a Bald Eagle flying over right over the road. We turned onto Chemin Lac des Loups and checked out a feeder there. A gentleman came out and talked to us about the bird scarcity this winter. We did see a Hairy Woodpecker and a bunch of Chickadees. We made a loop on Swamp Road without seeing any birds – beautiful scenery, though.

Retracing our steps, we saw a couple of Wild Turkeys right on Steele Road. Then out on Hwy 148, we stopped at a tree full of Snow Buntings. When I got home, there were a couple of American Robins on my front walk.

OFNC Outing with Bernie Ladouceur

Sunday, Jan 10 8:00 am

About 15 hardy souls met at Lincoln Heights Shopping Centre and organized car pools. Bernie presented a couple of options from which we chose to go to the Québec side to look for eagles and other raptors. To give time for the thermals to develop, we stopped at Deschenes Rapids to check for ducks. There were a fair smattering of Common Goldeneye and a single male Hooded Merganser. A lone Canada Goose appeared to have lost its mate to a predator. After scoping by the river, we were quite chilled, so a stop at Tim Horton’s was welcome.

From there we headed out to the Eardly-Masham Road, rendezvousing at the restaurant at the corner, where we noted a number of Blue Jays and Common Ravens. We drove up into the Gatineau Park, stopping only once to view a Red-tailed Hawk. We made three stops inside the park, but it was deadly quiet. So we returned to the base of the escarpment to look for eagles.

We took Bradley Road, then Kennedy, 6th Concession and Wilson. We stopped at a feeder and observed a Hairy woodpecker, lots of Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees, a few American Goldfinches and a Mourning Dove.

On to Steele Line, bordering the escarpment. Finally the caravan of vehicles pulled up opposite a farm house, where Bernie pointed out two perched Bald Eagles in a tree beside the farm, one full adult, and the other a second or third year. There was a flock of about 300 Snow Buntings at the same location. The younger eagle took off and flew over the road towards the escarpment, where we saw another Bald Eagle perched on high. Then Bernie saw a fourth, far in the distance.

We turned down Chemin Lac des Loups to check another feeder, but the results were not thrilling, unless you like Hairy Woodpeckers.

We retraced our steps to check for more eagles, meeting Bob Cermak, Chris Lewis, Bob Bracken & company en route. Bernie got a hot tip from them, so we proceed directly to Bradley Road and stopped at a distant feeder. We were rewarded by the presence of about 15 Evening Grosbeaks. Much joy, as the winter finches are exceedingly scare this year.
We continued on Bradley past Eardley-Masham Road, where we saw three White-tailed Deer cross in front. On the right side, there were more deer and about 60 Wild Turkeys in the field.
That was the end of our day, but on turning the car around ,we spotted another Red-tailed Hawk up on the escarpment.

Cross-country Skiing to Herridge Lodge

Saturday, Jan 9, 2010 - 3 pm

There have been reports of a Barred Owl at Herridge in past years, so I always pack my camera. We must have checked at least 10 times over the last two years without seeing one, but today our luck finally turned. In fact we walked right past him twice without noticing, but got him just before we took off! In fact, he was right out in the open over the bird feeder.

Searching for the Gyr with Tony Beck

Sunday, Jan 3, 2010. 7:30 am

It was another windy cold day in the capital, when Tony decided to put on an extra outing to try for the Gyrfalcon. Jen, Janet B, Rick, Barbara & I braved the temperatures.
We went first to Hilda Road feeders. Barbara spotted an American Tree Sparrow on the ground and Janet saw a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers at the suet feeder. We also saw a Hairy Woodpecker and a couple of Blue Jays. Our next stop was at Mud Lake. It was really quiet, but Jen had brought seeds to feed the Black-capped Chickadees. We scanned the open water at the base of the rapids with nothing to report. We got on the Ottawa River parkway and drove in to the Deschene Rapids lookout – not much doing and really cold. From there we went to Tunney’s Pasture to see if a falcon was at the Coates Building – nope!

Undeterred, we drove to the Experimental Farm to look for raptors – only got a Raven.

We were so close to Fletcher that we decided to give it a try. It had warmed slightly, so we hiked around to the far feeder. A mourning Dove was huddled right on the feeder. There were several House Finches, including a nice red male. A Northern Cardinal also appeared in the back.
We checked all the conifers, finding nothing. At the feeder behind the nature centre, there was a Dark-eyed Junco, a pair of House Sparrows and a White-breasted Nuthatch.

On leaving, I decided to liven things up by getting stuck. Some helpful dog walkers came to our rescue with a shovel and strong bodies.

We drove to the Carlington Quarry for one last look for the Gyrfalcon, but it did not appear. Jen was so cold that she did not even get out of the car.

Twitcher's Delight - Ottawa Centre & West with Tony Beck

Tuesday Dec 22, 8:00am

It was a bitterly cold day for Rick, Heather, Tony & me. We all drove in Tony’s car to check out the Hilda feeders. At the corner of Rifle Road, we saw a Northern Shrike and a Red-tailed Hawk.

At Hilda, we saw a male Pileated Woodpecker, an American Robin, some Blue Jays and a young White-tailed Buck. We headed out to the country to try and re-find the Snowy Owl that Rick had seen a day or so before. It was tough, but we did locate it in the distance, on the ground, near the corner of Eagleson and Rushmore. On the other side of the road, we saw a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk. We swung around on Moodie Drive, and saw a young Red-tailed Hawk perched near Trail Road. We turned down past the dump and saw a huge number of gulls on the hill. Besides the common ones, there were 5 or 6 Glaucous Gulls, and one Iceland Gull. We were absolutely freezing looking through the scope, so Heather and I got back in the car to warm up while Rick and Tony soldiered on.

A Gyrfalcon had been reported on the Christmas Bird Count, so we had to try for it. We first went to the end of Clyde Ave., and then drove around to the bottom of the quarry – no luck! We went to the Experimental Farm, where a couple had been seen in other years. No luck with the Gyrfalcon, but we did see a distant Cooper’s Hawk flying by the Dunton Tower of Carleton University. We drove down Parkdale to Scott to check out the Coates Building – neither Gyrfalcon nor Peregrine.

A Red-shouldered Hawk had been reported in Aylmer on the CBC, so that was our next destination. We drove to Maple Grove in the old part of Aylmer. It was really birdy, with lots of mature trees and large lots. W had Northern Cardinals, European Starlings, a Mourning Dove and a Downy Woodpecker. We got out and did a walk about. There was a tiny stream and frozen pond. Tony spotted some ducks flying in, and sure enough, they landed on the pond. There were several Mallards and two American Black Ducks. There was no sign of the Red-shouldered Hawk, but, back at the car, Tony did spot a Merlin and scoped it for us.